Unpublished Beatles photos revealed

A new series of unpublished images has been unveiled in London. The photos are headed for auction in New York on July 20.

Mike Mitchell / Christie's via EPA

The Beatles stand with their backs to the camera in 1964.

Photographer Mike Mitchell shot the images when he was 18 years old, and have been sitting in his basement collecting dust for 40 years. The collection is comprised of 50 lots of unpublished and never-before-seen photographs of the Beatles' first visits to the US in 1964.

Mike Mitchell / Christie's via EPA

Paul McCartney, left, and John Lennon in 1964. The works were unveiled on Friday, June 10 at Christie's auction house in London, Britain and will go up for auction in New York on July 20.

Mitchell was handed a press pass to the Beatles first concert in the U.S. at the Washington Coliseum in 1964. This was just two days after they made their breakthrough on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Mike Mitchell / Christies via EPA

Ringo Starr of the Beatles plays drums during a concert in 1964. This picture, taken by the photographer Mike Mitchell when he was 18 years old, is part of a collection comprising 50 lots of unpublished and never-before-seen photographs of the Beatles' first visits to the US in 1964.

Mike Mitchell/Christie's / EPA

George Harrison of the Beatles plays guitar during a concert in 1964. The complete collection is expected to reach nearly $100,000 US.

"I heard the music and I had to be there," Mitchell told Reuters. "Things were much different back then," he told Reuters on Friday. "There was no big security presence, the press wasn't corralled and I was free to sort of embrace my own ambition."

Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP

Photographer Mike Mitchell stands by some of his photographs of The Beatles where they are being exhibited at a hotel in London, Friday, June 10.